Before 14 May 2020, an Essential Worker who contracted COVID-19
would have had to prove that work was a substantial contributing
factor to that disease.
Fortunately, on 14 May 2020, the COVID-19 Legislation
Amendment (Emergency Measures – Miscellaneous) Bill 2020
was passed by both houses of the New South Wales Parliament to
afford protections to essential workers who are at risk of
contracting COVID-19 during the course of their employment.
Essentially, the legislation provides that Nurses, Paramedics,
Teachers and other essential workers across industries such as
health, construction and retail now do not need to prove where they
contracted COVID-19 when making a workers compensation claim in
NSW. This change will potentially cover hundreds of thousands of
workers across the state.
